When I was seventeen, it was a
very good year for celebrity sightings.
In Times Square ,
I met a world-renowned actor. Yes, he said, I played the voice of Darth Vader.
Up on 44th street ,
it’s a bird! It’s a plane! It was Christopher Reeves walking on air on his way
for rehearsal for The Fifth of July at the Helen Hayes Theater! We passed by
with big smiles and nodded like long time neighbors.
Afterward, a crowd of
Puerto Ricans and other Hispanics blocked me. They were carrying placards in
front of a musical based on the life of an Argentinean named Evita. They were
angry because the producers hired an all white cast and not one Hispanic. There
was a pushy little woman named Miriam Colon who grabbed me by the arm and gave
me a placard to hold up. I wanted to protest I wasn’t an actor (and yet it was
fun to pretend to be one!)
And now I consider myself to be the son of Tony and
Maria in a real life sequel to West Side Story.
I want to hire every color in
town!
If killed by an illegal handgun,
don’t cry for me, America .
The truth is I never left you. I kept my childhood promise to share a dream for
the city that never sleeps.
So don’t keep your distance.
I love you.
And hope you love me.
Happy Hispanic Heritage Month!
I Delivered Turkeys To The Stars by Danny Aponte
under The Reading Rainbow
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